China Strike Force

CHINA STRIKE FORCE has some strikes against it. One is the odd casting of Coolio and the Japanese female lead. The other is the casting of two pop idols, which usually signal a flighty, silly movie.

While CSF is sometimes silly, it's mostly entertaining. Not incredibly so by any stretch, but entertaining enough that you wouldn't mind watching the film again. The action is good, and Coolio gives the film some terrific laughs.

CSF is one of those films that doesn't do anything it does with great excellence, but it's always good enough that you never feel cheated.

6 out of 10.

There was some outstanding stunt work at the end, and some really good fights scenes, but that was all there is.

The irritating Coolio completely played over Mark Dacascos (Cradle to the Grave). The constant jive just wore thin after five minutes.

Aaron Kwok was good, and Japanese model Norika Fujiwara really kept things interesting, but not enough to recommend the time spent.

Lee-Hom Wang is proving to be really good, and in recognition was in Lust, Caution.

If you want to see real action, there are many better films to check out.

I really expect much from Stanley Stong, because he is well known as a good action director (Rumble In The Bronx, Martial Law), but when I decide to watch this one, I found my self fell in a such boring movie. The things that deserve to watch are only the action scenes and (off course) Noriko Fujiwara. The plot is trashy, and Aaron Kwok was seems to gorgeous to be a cop. Bad for you, Stanley. I hope he could do better next time.

5/10

First of all, this H.K. movie is clearly aimed at a more international market. Nothing immediately wrong with that - in fact, I was excited when I saw Mark Dacascos in the cast. I've enjoyed his work in other movies in the past, since not only does he know his craft well, he has screen presence and even has some acting ability.

But perhaps because Dacascos is unfortunately still not that well known in North America, the producers also picked someone with more "name" value to pair up with him. While I can sort of understand this, they really made a bad choice with choosing Coolio(!) I guess I can't really blame Coolio, because in the past he has shown some screen ability. However, the screenplay and the direction make him EXTREMELY annoying, with his non-stop slang talking and insulting. What's even worse is that Coolio's character is given much more focus than Dacascos' character, right down to the climatic action sequence. To say that Dacascos is greatly wasted is putting it mildly.

The climatic action sequence IS entertaining, and so are the previous ones in the movie... what little there are. The remaining running time is talk, talk, talk, blah, blah, etc. Most of the focus is in fact on a plot so weak and so cliched that it gives dumb action movies a bad name. (I suspect this is the main reason why the movie has yet to receive an official release in North America, 3 years after it was made!) Stanley Tong really needs to return to his roots, to realize what made his past movies work.

In China, Uncle Ma (Siu-Ming La) is a powerful mobster, who deals with smuggling. His bodyguard Tony Lau (Mark Dacascos) betrayals him with the American drug dealer Coolio, introducing drugs in his territory. Two young Chinese detectives and an undercover Japanese Interpol agent chases the `bad guys'. `China Strike Force' is a good action movie, with well choreographed action scenes. I do not know who perform these scenes (stunts or actors themselves), but I found this film a good entertainment. It works perfectly on video. Norika Fujiwara is really a very beautiful woman. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Fúria em Shanghai' (`Rage in Shanghai')